Ford parts disrupted as asbestos discovered at Daventry distribution centre

The discovery of asbestos at Ford UK's National Parts Distribution Centre is set to cause disruption to the supply of genuine Ford parts to car repair workshops.

A business continuity plan has been implemented at Ford's Daventry PDC because it has been forced to suspend its normal parts picking procedures while the asbestos issue is resolved.

But Ford has warned its customers, which will include independent repairers, fleets and franchised workshops in the UK and Ireland supplied by its PartsPlus depots, of the likelihood of longer lead times for the delivery of repair parts they order because they will have to come from its other distribution centres in mainland Europe.

And all stock replenishment orders have been suspended temporarily as an immediate contingency action.

AM has seen a copy of a letter from Stuart Harper, sales director at Ford's PartsPlus operation, in which he outlines that an on-site survey was completed last week which informed Ford that some small pieces of cement containing a low percentage of chrysotile, also known as white asbestos, had been found in the picking and putaway operations at Ford Daventry National Parts Distribution Centre.

White asbestos was the most commonly used kind of asbestos in the past until it was banned in 1999.

All forms of asbestos fibres are classed as hazardous by the UK Government as they can cause the lung conditions asbestosis and pleural thickening, and can induce cancer following inhalation exposure. 

Harper added that specialist cleaning will now be required, which means that Ford is required to suspend normal picking and putaway activity.

"As an immediate contingency action, all PartsPlus stock replenishment orders have been suspended and 'immobilised vehicle off-road' orders are being re-routed to Cologne and Valencia. This means that parts which can be supplied from those locations will be shipped to the UK and Ireland, although this will result in extended lead times in customers receiving the parts.

"In parallel, the teams are working with the highest priority to restore operations and utilise capacity that is available in Cologne and Valencia facilities," Harper stated.

The Ford Parts Distribution Centre in Daventry was opened in 1968 and employs several hundreds people. It provides a parts delivery service to Ford dealerships and its network of PartsPlus trade parts sellers.

The Ford PartsPlus network was established in 2018, creating a focused trade parts direct sales operation from some 80 locations run by major dealer groups, rather than having each individual Ford dealership in its franchised network selling parts to its local independent garages.

Usually, Ford Daventry is able to satisfy more than 90% of orders the same day, AM understands.

Harper has pledged to keep customers informed and emphasised that Ford is working to mitigate the implications of the situation.

AM asked Ford for further details and its estimations of the likely extention to lead times. One industry source said he'd been quoted up to two weeks for some parts which were usually delivered within days.

In response, a Ford spokesman told us: "Specialist cleaning is already well underway and we are working closely with external experts to establish a timeline for resuming normal operations.

"Our priority is providing a safe working environment. We are working hard across our European sites to minimise any delays for dealers and customers."